Loneliness influences avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention reported by adult workers in the United States

Abstract

PurposeLoneliness is known to adversely impact employee health, performance and affective commitment. This study involves a quantitative cross-sectional analysis of online survey data reported by adults employed in the United States (n = 5,927) to explore how loneliness and other related factors may influence avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention.Design/methodology/approachWorker loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Composite variables were constructed as proxy measures of worker job and personal resources. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine independent variable effects on dependent outcomes of (a) work days missed in the last month due to stress (stress-related absenteeism) and (b) likelihood to quit within the next year (turnover intention).FindingsThe job resources of social companionship, work-life balance and satisfaction with communication had significant negative relationships to loneliness in the SEM, as did the personal resources of resilience and less perceived alienation. Results further show lonely workers have significantly greater stress-related absenteeism (p = 0.000) and higher turnover intention ratings (p = 0.000) compared to workers who are not lonely. Respondent demographics (age, race and gender) and other occupational characteristics also produced significant outcomes.Practical implicationsStudy findings underscore the importance of proactively addressing loneliness among workers and facilitating job and personal resource development as an employee engagement and retention strategy.Originality/valueLoneliness substantially contributes to worker job withdrawal and has negative implications for organizational effectiveness and costs.

Employee Satisfaction and Competitive Advantage of Virtual Organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria

“…Employee satisfaction is a useful predictor of intentions or decisions of employees to leave a job (Mbundu, 2011). Information on employee satisfaction is valuable to an organisation because satisfied employees experience physical and psychological well-being, while dissatisfied employees are more likely to be associated with absenteeism, psychological withdrawal and employee turnover (Bowers, Wu, Lustig & Nemecek, 2022).…”

Social connections at work and mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from employees in Germany

“…These have limited social connections with friends, family and co-workers [ 4 , 6 ] and changed the nature of social interactions [ 1 , 7 ]. Social connections, however, are a central part of human life, and both their quality and quantity can strongly influence mental health [ 8 – 10 ] and occupational outcomes [ 11 ]. For example, frequent social interactions and talking with other people are both associated with greater well-being [ 10 ].…”

“…Despite this, empirical evidence on the psychological, behavioural and social effects of the pandemic and the consequences for mental health, especially in the workplace, is sparse [ 12 – 14 ]. This is striking given that the workplace is considered to be one of the most important environments to affect mental health [ 15 ] and social isolation and loneliness have become widely recognised as workplace stressors [ 11 ]. Recent studies even suggest that the likelihood and duration of insufficient social relationships may be greater in the workplace than in personal life [ 8 ].…”

“…In the context of the nationwide measures across most of the world, policymakers and researchers have raised concerns that people will experience prolonged social isolation [ 12 , 19 , 20 ], which can be defined as the absence or limitation of social connections [ 21 ]. Even though social isolation itself is associated with morbidity [ 11 ], related research suggests that mental health is less influenced by the objective absence of social connections than by the perceived discrepancy between actual and desired connections [ 19 , 22 ]. When investigating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace, it is therefore important to consider this discrepancy as a potential pathway through which COVID-19 and the corresponding containment measures could affect employees’ mental health.…”

The Missing Link: The Role of the Workplace in Mental Health

“…Loneliness and isolation, indicators of social connection, cost U.S. businesses more than US$154 billion annually in lost productivity (Bowers et al, 2022) and workplace stress costs upward of US$190 billion in annual U.S. health care expenditures (Goh et al, 2015). Thus, there is both a human (i.e., improved mental health) and business case for OHPs to pay more attention to workplace social support, and specifically, the role of managers in providing such support.…”